Entries in integrated microfinance programs
(16)

In Benin, the average household spends more than 40% of its total budget on out-of-pocket health expenses each year.

Catholic Relief Services and partners piloted a health microinsurance product and delivered it through savings groups in Benin. We introduced a digital solution to improve efficiency and scalability. This document evaluates the project's ability to increase access to health services among rural households.

CRS' Ibyiringiro project in Rwanda reached more than 12,000 beneficiaries through an integrated approach to HIV. This case study looks at the experiences of project participants during the life of the project (2008–2013).

This learning paper outlines the experiences and preliminary findings of a collaboration between Catholic Relief Services and Aflatoun. The program was designed to help strengthen the child protection function of Children’s Corners in Malawi.

Vulnerable children ages 6 to 18 years old received financial and social enterprise training. This training strengthened their self-confidence, taught them their rights and responsibilities and helped them develop practical skills for saving, spending, planning and budgeting.

This report looks at CRS' health microinsurance (HMI) pilot in Atacora, Benin. The pilot links mature savings groups to a national insurance company. The findings show improvements in costs, access, treatment and group solidarity.

Until recently, municipal governments in Nicaragua have not considered agricultural development to be part of their institutional mandate. This has made it difficult for small producers to competitively engage in agricultural value chains. CRS and its partners created the Alliance to Create Opportunities for Rural Development through Agroenterprise Relationships (ACORDAR) project in 2007. Since then, ACORDAR has helped more than 3,000 Nicaraguan farmers achieve a 98 percent increase in sales and a 117 percent increase in net income.

This project was designed to improve the economic status, food security, health and psychosocial well-being of out-of-school (or at risk of being out-of-school) adolescents. The assessment evaluates three economic strengthening approaches: (1) vocational training, (2) Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools and (3) Savings and Internal Lending Communities.

CRS is working with partners to help rural families increase their income and improve their diets in remote areas of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua through the Agriculture for Basic Needs Project.

CRS/Rwanda has integrated SILC across programming in projects such as agriculture, health, nutrition and HIV &amp; AIDS since 2005. Recently, 942 SILC groups saved a total of $128,473 and provided $34,463 in loans to help members meet household and productive needs.﻿

﻿Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) are helping youth in Zimbabwe develop basic skills in financial management. Youth participating in SILC are also learning to appreciate the importance of saving for emergencies and investments. This poster outlines how the SILC process works and how it is being used by youth in Zimbabwe.

This learning paper looks at linking the Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) methodology with orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) programming in Rwanda. CRS Rwanda introduced SILC to help households headed by OVC to build financial assets and complement current OVC programming, with the intent to provide OVC households with reliable and safe financial services as well as an avenue for basic financial education.

Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) is a savings-led microfinance methodology developed by CRS to increase access to financial services for the poorest of the poor. This case study looks at CRS’ experience in introducing the SILC methodology to orphans and vulnerable children in Rwanda in an effort to help them build successful businesses.